Did you miss the whole Sixties scene? The hippie, wanna-be-free feeling of beachfront California? Fear not. Readers can revisit this environment in Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice. Pynchon fans will recognize his style here: a rambling story that meanders from cultural icon to cultural icon, taking the reader along to whatever destination Pynchon has in mind, entertaining them along the way.

Inherent Vice is the story of Doc Sportello, a private investigator who spends as little time working as he can get by on.
His ex-girlfriend, Shasta, shows up hoping that Doc can find her new boyfriend, who seems to have disappeared. In the process of unraveling this mystery, Doc leads the reader through the discovery of the Internet, beach/surf music, a diabolical Eastern drug cartel, various right-wing thugs working for governmental or police agencies, Las Vegas
(before it was turned into Disneyland West), tons of marijuana, lots of sex, and plenty of dubious characters. The whole chaotic journey
resolves in a satisfactory conclusion in which all the puzzles are solved and the good guys prevail.

Inherent Vice is recommended for all readers. Pynchon is an American treasure, one of the authors whose work will be read far into the future. His keen eye notes the details that make up a culture while his style entertains. Pynchon fans will be pleased with this book, and those who haven't yet discovered
him will be pleasantly surprised.